


Come On, Harleen

by DesertLily



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce is trying to be a good dad, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Ivy is a caring girlfriend, Minor Character Death, The Joker is dead, implied domestic abuse, implied emotional abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 14:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21101363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily
Summary: The Joker falls. Harley doesn’t catch him.





	Come On, Harleen

**Author's Note:**

> It’s almost 5am and I have an early train to catch but I wrote this instead of sleeping. Also Bruce and Harley’s kinda friendship is just because I’ve been replaying Injustice 2

  
Harley felt numb as she watched the clown fall. Shouldn’t she feel something? Anything? Horror? Fear? Guilt? ...Relief? She had killed before and seen people die. Yet watching the Joker fall to his death just made her feel numb. It was an odd sensation. She had felt grief before and this certainly wasn’t it. If anything, it made her want to laugh. It made her want to laugh more than anything else ever had. So laugh she did. Each laugh was enough to silence the sound of her sobs as tears began to drip down her face. For so long, her every word and every action had almost always been to do what was right for the Joker. A part of her had always belonged to him. That part of her felt empty now. Rather than push away the emptiness, she embraced. For the briefest of moments, Harley felt serene and peaceful. Then she watched his body hit the ground.

From how high up she was, it felt more like staring down at ants. She couldn’t make out a single face but she could still see the panic unfold. Harley watched with baited breath to see if ‘Mr J’ would get up. If this was just an elaborate part of one of his plans. He didn’t. He stayed sprawled across the pavement and Harleen was certain there was still a smile on his face. He stayed dead. If anything, that just made her laugh more. She was free. She was free of him. She was free to be Harleen Quinzel again - if Harleen Quinzel even existed anymore.

She wasn’t entirely sure how long she spent on that rooftop. It was long enough that she watched police come to the scene followed by an ambulance that took away the body of her ex-lover. Oddly, she couldn’t entirely bring herself to care. That was when Harley heard the slightest of sounds. To most, it was probably undetectable but she had been in the business long enough to recognise the Bat. “I didn’t do it.” Were the first words out of her mouth as she barely even gave a glance at the man.

“I know.” There was almost a hint of sympathy in the Dark Knight’s voice or perhaps it was pity? Either way, Harleen would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy brief moments like this. Moments when it seemed as if someone gave a damn. They came the most when she was with Ivy and Selina, followed closely behind by her visits to her daughter. Then there was the Bat himself. Batman somehow had the ability to fight her with ease when she was by Joker’s side but seemed to have an odd sincerity in wanting to help her when she was alone. When she was a psychologist, Harley would have been utterly fascinated by a man like Batman. For more than just the fact he had spent years and years running around Gotham in a bat suit. “You could never hurt him.”

His words stung but they rang true. Harley couldn’t have killed Joker even if she had wanted to. She had been so deeply under his spell. If he told her to jump, she would ask how high. If he hit her then she would thank him for it. She was so devoted to him that she had lost herself along the way. “I know. It always makes Ivy mad.” If the Joker had been any other man then Harley would have left him for Pamela a long time ago. The woman cared for Harley more than anyone else ever had. Ivy would bandage her wounds and hold her close, scolding her every time she went away. Her relationship with Ivy was so different to that with Joker. It was one of Love. Not obsession. Not addiction. It was sincere. “You here to throw me back in to Arkham, Bats?” It was what she expected. Why else would he be there?

Much to her surprise, Batman shook his head slowly. “I’m here to see if you’re okay. It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone like you, Harleen.” Harley knew what he meant. A victim. To an extent, she was just another of Joker’s victims. Just another pawn that he had played with. She hated that the Bat had seen through her but she knew deep down that he wasn’t wrong. “I know what he can do to people.” God, if that wasn’t an understatement. Everyone knew what Mr J had down to Batman’s second birdy. Everyone knew what the Joker did to people in general. “I...I can take you somewhere safe.”

“What? Back to a padded cell in Arkham?” Harleen snorted at that. Was there even anywhere she had left to go anymore? She could always go visit her sister. It had been a long time since she had been able to see Lucy anyways. Her dear little girl. The only person that she had ever truly kept safe from the Joker’s mania.

Once again, the Bat shook his head. He seemed to be almost smiling at her. “...Poison Ivy escaped from Arkham. I know where her greenhouse is.” Well, what do you know? Batman himself was offering to be her personal Uber to her girlfriend. The numbness Harley was feeling was beginning to fade. Instead, she was stuck with an exhaustion that seemed to seep in to her as everything began to set in.

“Seeing Red would be nice...”

“Let’s go.”

* * *

Travelling in the Batmobile made Harleen feel like a kid on Christmas Day! She had never been inside it before and it was...marvellous! The slight ridiculousness of it was just enough to distract her briefly from the death of her lover. Where did Bats even get that much bat-themed interior for it?! At least it was comforting to know he was committed to his aesthetic. For once in her life, Harleen stayed quiet during the journey. Though, the silence wasn’t awkward. If anything, it was comforting. There was something safe about it; reassuring. Not to mention the constant looks the Bat kept giving her. She wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be cautious or concerned.

Eventually, Batman broke the silence. “You’re handling this surprisingly well.” Harleen wasn’t entirely sure what he had been expecting from her. To be completely lost in the throws of grief? To go on a murderous rampage in response? To be crying?

“I...I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel.” She found herself admitting with her voice barely above a whisper. Harley turned to look at him for wide eyes. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do.” She had never lost someone who had had so much of a profound effect on her before. She had lost the puppeteer that had orchestrated her almost every move. With no one left to pull the strings, the Joker’s puppet no longer knew what to do.

The Bat let out a low hum at that. “I can’t condone what you’ve done in their past, Harleen, but there are ways for you to get help. There are ways to come back from all of this.” So that was what he wanted. He wanted to ‘rehabilitate’ her or something. If she was an honest, Harley couldn’t think of any reason to disagree. Maybe she could get an actual job and see more of her daughter. She knew Ivy wouldn’t let it come between their relationship. Maybe she had a chance at being normal again. If it were possible.

“I need to be better.” Her eager response seemed to surprise him. “I-I can’t cry or mourn him. If I react then I give in to the control he has over me then he gets the last laugh.” She took a deep breath, forcing back the tears that dared form in the corners of her eyes.

An odd look crossed the Bat’s face. “Without him, you could have done a lot of good.”

“Without him, I could have been a lot of things.” Silence fell between them again after that.

* * *

Harley had barely even thought to give the Bat a goodbye when they reached the Greenhouse. Instead, she was out of the car in seconds and running to throw herself in to the arms of a cautious looking Ivy. Evidently she had heard the sound of the approaching Batmobile. “Red.” She managed to whisper, burying her face in to her shoulder. “He’s...He’s gone. He’s finally gone.”

Before Pamela could question the mild madness of the situation, Batman was filling in the blanks. “The Joker is dead. I trust you can look after her?” There was almost a hint of care in his voice. Harleen was oddly touched.

“I...Of course.” A slight frown formed on Ivy’s face at the implication of otherwise. “I care about her. More than that damn clown ever did.” Harley clung to her a little tighter at that.

“Good. You’ll hear from me again if you don’t.” With that, the Bat made his exit. Both women were left ever so slightly baffled.

Neither said anything for a few moments, simply embracing each other. Harley needed it and Pamela was more than happy to oblige. “...I think he just went in to Batdad mode.” An almost laugh escaped Harley at that. Both of them had seen it before whenever one of his many sidekicks were in danger. They had just never seen it in regards to a ‘villain’ (Red Hood didn’t count since he was a self proclaimed anti-hero). It was...odd. “But seriously, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“I ain’t got no injuries, Red.” Harley gave a shaky smile. Finally with the person who made her feel most safe, the young woman found herself letting her emotions out. A rogue tear finally escaped down her face. “We didn’t fight. He just...fell.” Her voice cracked.

A gentle green hand moved to wipe away the tear. “Not all injuries are physical, Harley.” Ivy reminded her gently, slowly beginning to lead her inside. “Did you...?”

“No.”

“Good.” Pamela nodded with a sigh. “As much as I despised him, it wouldn’t do you any good.” When it came to the Joker, Harley had always been fragile. She could never acknowledge all the wrongdoings her did to her. If she had been the one to kill him...The outcome wouldn’t have been good.

Harleen moved to a press a brief kiss to Pamela’s lips. “It don’t matter anymore, Red. Just...stay with me.”

Gently, Pamela cupped the other woman’s face with her hand. “I’d never leave you. Not when you need me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Bruce Wayne, seeing any young person in a bad situation: Is this my child? 
> 
> Love it? Hate it? Comments are always appreciated or hmu @ desert-lily on tumblr!


End file.
